It Started with a Crack by Piper James
Chapter Eighteen
Noah
“How are things going at the ranch with Dakota?”
I swallowed the eggs I’d been chewing and took a sip of my coffee. “Good. Everything’s great.”
“Great, huh?” Ryder said, arching a black brow at me.
“Why do you sound so nervous?” Chase threw in before I could respond.
We were having our usual Sunday morning breakfast at the diner, and all three of my brothers stopped eating to stare at me. Trying to act as casual as possible, I shrugged.
“Yeah. Great. Dakota is a good roommate, and we’re getting along better than I expected.”
“You like her,” Ryder said in a sing-song voice.
“Don’t be a child,” I grumbled.
“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you,” he shot back.
“Have you slept with her?” Ethan asked, his face a mask of concern.
“No,” I said, my body deflating. “It’s not like that. We’re friends. That’s it.”
“Since when is Noah Perry just friends with a woman?” Chase asked, a smirk on his lips.
“Since now,” I said. “I thought something might happen, but she doesn’t have any interest in me that way.”
“Oh, shit. She friend-zoned you?” Ryder laughed.
“Shut up,” I growled.
“Oh, this is classic,” he went on. “You always brag about how no woman can resist you. What happened? Did she get a whiff of your morning breath and draw a line?”
“I do not have morning breath,” I growled.
“Everyone has morning breath,” he countered.
“Ryder, give it a rest,” Chase said, smacking him on the back of the head.
Ryder really looked at me, then sobered as he took in my expression. “Oh, my God. You really do like her, don’t you? Sorry, man. I was just teasing you.”
“I know,” I said, sighing. “It’s okay. I deserve this, I guess. The shoe really is on the other foot, now. I…feel something, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Have you told her how you feel?” Ethan asked.
“No. There was a kiss, but she’d been drinking so I didn’t let it go any further than that. The next day, she didn’t bring it up. I could tell she remembered it, but she didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Maybe she was waiting for you to bring it up, first?” Chase asked.
“I don’t think so,” I sighed. “She was skittish as a colt, and only relaxed after I acted like nothing ever happened.”
“Well, it’s probably for the best,” Ethan said. “Sex complicates things. It’s good that you two are friends.” He paused, tilting his head to study me. “You’ve changed since she became your roommate.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “There’s something almost…calmer about you. Like you’re more satisfied with your life here. Happier.”
I rolled Ethan’s words through my mind a few times. He was right. I was happier than I’d been in a long time. That constant itch to go, go, go that I’d always lived with had all but disappeared. There was nowhere I’d rather be than right where I was.
Well, maybe there was one place I’d rather be—inside Dakota. But that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Regardless, I was content. I wanted her in my life however I could have her…even if it was just as friends.
“I am happy,” I said as my brothers stared at me. “And I’m not going to do anything to fuck this up.”
